Cipher message

Scope and Content

Cipher message no. CS/1289 from Auchinleck to Winston Churchill, stating that he is alarmed by reports from London of a press campaign attributing the deterioration of the situation in Libya to the failure of the RAF to provide adequate support for the Army and for the recent Malta convoy; declaring that nothing could be further from the truth, that air support has been continuous and most effective, and that such lying campaigns may easily prejudice the efficiency of the Army and the RAF at a critical time. With manuscript notes in the hand of Auchinleck, and a separate holograph note by Major A. MacKinnon. Typescript and holograph.